New £2 coin from The Royal Mint celebrates the life of Jane Austen for 200th anniversary

f3d7c4af-eac4-4a31-b5e4-d3141b99eb7a

The Royal Mint is to issue a new £2 coin to mark the 200th anniversary of the death of English novelist Jane Austen.

The Royal Mint, which has been minting coins for more than 1,000 years, also plans to release a limited number of the Jane Austen coins into circulation on 18 July, the anniversary of Austen’s death, at key locations around Winchester and Basingstoke which have connections with the Hampshire author. The circulating coins will be issued more widely across the UK later this year.

The coins will be available in Brilliant Uncirculated, Silver Proof and Gold Proof versions; and Austen fans can add to their collection later in the year, with a new Bank of England £10 note featuring Jane Austen to be issued in September 2017.

The new Jane Austen coin was designed by Dominique Evans, Royal Mint Graphic Designer, and features a silhouette of Jane Austen, set in a period frame against a backdrop of Regency wallpaper. Dominique said: “From the first brief, through to the final design, it was a delight to research Jane Austen’s life in detail. I imagined her framed silhouette as if it were in one of the houses featured in Jane Austen’s books, on the wall of a corridor as guests passed by to attend a dance, perhaps in Pride and Prejudice, or on the wall in the home of Emma.”

For more information, or to purchase the coin, visit the Royal Mint’s website.

Images copyright The Royal Mint, with the exception of the 'will' image which is courtesy of National Archives, Kew